James Elroy Flecker
James Elroy Flecker (5 November 1884 - 3 January 1915) was an English poet, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassians. Life Flecker was born in Lewisham, London, and baptised Herman Elroy Flecker, later choosing to use the first name "James" (either because he disliked the name "Herman" or to avoid confusion with his father). "Roy", as he was known to his family, was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, where his father was headmaster, and Uppingham School. He then studied at Trinity College, Oxford, and Caius College, Cambridge. While at Oxford he was greatly influenced by the last flowering of the Aesthetic movement there, under John Addington Symonds. From 1910 he was in the consular service, in the Eastern Mediterranean. He met Helle Skiadaressi on a ship to Athens,Walker, Heather. Roses and Rain (2006). Melrose Books. ISBN 1-905226-06-3 and married her in 1911. His most widely known poem is "To a poet a thousand years hence". He died of tuberculosis in Davos, Switzerland. His death at the age of 30 was described at the time as "unquestionably the greatest premature loss that English literature has suffered since the death of Keats".James Elroy Flecker, About.com Recognition The most enduring testimony to his work is perhaps an excerpt from "The Golden Journey to Samarkand" inscribed on the clock tower of the barracks of the British Army's 22 Special Air Service regiment in Hereford: "We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go Always a little further; it may be Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow Across that angry or that glimmering sea".The same extract appears on UKSAS Memorial in Herefordshire ( ) The same inscription also appears on the NZSAS monument at Rennie Lines in the Papakura Military Camp. In popular culture His poem "The Bridge of Fire" is featured in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, in the volume The Wake. A quatrain from his poem "To a Poet a Thousand Years Hence" is quoted by Jorge Luis Borges in his essay Note on Walt Whitman (to be found in the collection Other Inquisitions, 1937-1952): O friend unseen, unborn, unknown, student of our sweet English tongue, read out my words at night, alone: I was a poet, I was young. Publications Poetry *''The Bridge of Fire. London: Elkin Mathews, 1907. *Thirty-Six Poems. London: Adelphi Press, 1910. *Forty-Two Poems. London: Dent, 1911. *The Golden Journey to Samarkand'' (pamphlet). London: M. Goschen, 1913. *''The Old Ships. London: Poetry Bookshop, 1915. *''Fourteen Poems. London: Poetry Bookshop, 1921. * Collected Poems ''(edited by J.C. Squire). London: Martin Secker, 1916 **published in U.S. as ''The Collected Poems of James Elroy Flecker. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1916. *''James Elroy Flecker''. London: Ernest Benn (Augustan Poets series), 1931. *''Selected Poems''. London: Published by J. Baker for the Richards Press, 1964. *''Unpublished Poems and Drafts'' (edited by Martin Booth). London: Keepsake Press, 1971. *''Poems: A new selection'' (edited by Steven Perry). London: Autolycus, 1980. *''Poems'' (edited by Anthony Astbury). Emscote Lawn, Warwick, UK: Greville Press, 1996. Plays *''Hassan: The story of Hassan of Baghdad and how he came to make the golden journey to Samarkand: A play in five acts. London: Heinemann, 1922; New York: Knopf, 1922. *''Don Juan: A play in three acts. London: Heinemann, 1925; New York: Knopf, 1925. Novels *''The Last Generation: A story of the future. London: New Age Press, 1908. *The King of Alsander. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1915. Non-fiction *[https://archive.org/details/cu31924031422953 ''The Grecians: A dialogue on education]. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910. *''The Scholars' Italian Book: An introduction to the study of the Latin origins of Italian''. London: David Nutt, 1911. * Reputations: Essays in criticism. London: Chapman and Hall, 1920.Reputations: Essays in criticism (1920), Internet Archive, Web, June 20, 2012. Collected editions *''Collected Prose. London: George Bell, 1920; London: Heinemann, 1922. Letters *''The Letters of J.E. Flecker to Frank Savery. London: Beaumont Press, 1926. *''Some Letters from Abroad of James Elroy Flecker: With a few reminiscences''. London: Heinemann, 1930. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:James Elroy Flecker, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 10, 2014. See also * List of British poets References *''James Elroy Flecker'' (1922) by Douglas Goldring *''An Essay on Flecker'' (1937) by T.E. Lawrence *''No Golden Journey: A Biography of James Elroy Flecker'' (1973) by John Sherwood *''James Elroy Flecker'' (1976) by John M. Munro Notes External links ;Poems *"The Old Ships" * Selected Poetry of James Elroy Flecker (1884-1915) (4 poems) at Representative Poetry Online. * James Elroy Flecker in Georgian Poetry 1913-15 (6 poems) ;Books *James Elroy Flecker Collection University of Gloucestershire Archives and Special Collections * ;About * Category:1884 births Category:1915 deaths Category:Old Decanians Category:Old Uppinghamians Category:Deaths from tuberculosis Category:English poets Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:English novelists Category:People from Cheltenham Category:Infectious disease deaths in Switzerland Category:20th-century poets Category:Poets Category:English-language poets Category:Georgian poets